The New Zealand constitution is uncodified and is to be found in formal legal documents, in decisions of the courts, and in practices (some of which are described as conventions). It reflects and establishes that New Zealand is a monarchy, that it has a parliamentary system of government, and that it is a representative democracy. It increasingly reflects the fact that the Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as a founding document of government in New Zealand. The constitution must also be seen in its international context, because New Zealand governmental institutions must increasingly have regard to international obligations and standards.

The Constitution Act 1986 describe the three branches of Government in New Zealand: The Executive (the Executive Council, as the Cabinet has no formal legal status), the legislature (the House of Representatives and Sovereign in Parliament) and the judiciary (Court system).[1]

Part one of the Constitution Act 1986 describes "The Sovereign", the reigning monarch, as New Zealand's head of state. Section 2(1) of the Act declares "The Sovereign in right of New Zealand" as head of state, and section 5(1) describes the Sovereign's successor as being "...determined in accordance with the enactment of the Parliament of England intituled The Act of Settlement". This means that the head of state of the United Kingdom under the Act of Settlement 1701 is also the head of state of New Zealand. Under the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988, however, the Act of Settlement is deemed a New Zealand Act, which may be amended only by the New Zealand Parliament.

There have occasionally been proposals to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. Unlike its neighbour Australia, New Zealand has not yet held a referendum on the matter, but a number of prominent politicians (including the former Prime Minister, John Key[2]) believe that an eventual move to republicanism is inevitable. Opinion polls, however, have shown that a majority of New Zealanders favour keeping the monarchy.

The Sovereign's representative in and over the Realm of New Zealand is the Governor-General. The Office is largely ceremonial, although the Governor-General holds a number of so-called 'reserve powers'. The Office is nominally non-partisan, the Prime Minister advises the Sovereign who to appoint as the Governor-General.

Increasingly, the Governor-General represents New Zealand abroad and is accorded the same respect and privileges of a head of state. It can be argued that the de facto head of state is the Governor-General while the de jure head of state remains the Sovereign. The current Governor-General is Her Excellency the Right Honourable Dame Patsy Reddy, GNZM, QSO, DStJ.

New Zealand's legislative, executive and judicial branches function in accordance with the Constitution Act 1986 and various unwritten conventions, which are derived from the Westminster system. See politics of New Zealand for a full description of the powers of these institutions.

The Cabinet, which is responsible to Parliament, exercises executive authority. (The Cabinet forms the practical expression of a formal body known as the Executive Council.) The Prime Minister, as the leader of the political party or coalition of parties holding or having the support of a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, leads the Cabinet. All Cabinet Ministers must be Members of Parliament (MPs) and are collectively responsible to it. The Prime Minister and all other ministers take office upon receiving a warrant by the Governor-General. Unlike many other countries, there is no requirement for a formal vote of approval by the legislature before they may assume office.

New Zealand law has three principal sources: English common law; certain statutes of the United Kingdom Parliament enacted before 1947 (notably the Bill of Rights 1689); and statutes of the Parliament of New Zealand. In interpreting common law, there is a rebuttable presumption in support of uniformity with common law as interpreted in the United Kingdom and related jurisdictions. Non-uniformity arises where the New Zealand courts consider local conditions to warrant it or where the law has been codified by New Zealand statute.[3] The maintenance of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as the final court of appeal and judges' practice of tending to follow British decisions, even though, technically, they are not bound by them, both bolstered this presumption. The Supreme Court of New Zealand, which was established by legislation in October 2003 and which replaced the Privy Council for future appeals, has continued to develop the presumption.

Judgment was delivered on 3 March 2015 in the last appeal from New Zealand to be heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.[4][5][6]

The constitutional place of the Treaty of Waitangi is a subject of much debate. Increasingly, the Treaty is seen as an important source of constitutional law. Indeed, references to the "Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi" appear in a number of statutes, although the principles themselves have not been defined in statute. They are instead defined by a common law decision of the Court of Appeal from 1987, the famous "Lands case" brought by the New Zealand Māori Council (New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney-General). There was great concern within Māoridom at that time that the ongoing restructuring of the New Zealand economy by the then Fourth Labour Government, specifically the transfer of assets from former government departments to State-owned enterprises. Because the state-owned enterprises were essentially private firms owned by the government, they would prevent assets which had been given by Māori for use by the state from being returned to Māori by the Waitangi Tribunal. The Māori Council sought enforcement of section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 "Nothing in this act shall permit the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi".

The text of the Treaty itself is included in the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, an act which established the Waitangi Tribunal to determine issues of breaches of the Treaty. The Act was initially prospective, but was later amended in 1985 so that claims dating from the signing of the Treaty could be investigated. The 1985 amendment also included the Māori text of the Treaty for the first time.[7]

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 sets out the civil and political rights of New Zealand citizens against the three branches of government and entities and persons exercising public functions. The Act is not entrenched or supreme law, and can in theory be amended by Parliament by a simple majority but may be subject to an emerging constitutional convention that requires general support for any material change.

Prior to European Settlement of New Zealand, Māori society was based largely around tribal units with no national governing body. As contact with Europeans increased, there arose a need for a single governing entity. In 1788, the colony of New South Wales was founded. According to Governor Phillip's amended Commission dated 25 April 1787, the colony included "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean" and running westward on the continent to the 135th meridian east. Until 1840, this technically included New Zealand, but the New South Wales administration had little interest in New Zealand. Amid increasing lawlessness and dubious land transactions between Māori and Europeans, the British Colonial Office appointed James Busby as British Resident to New Zealand.

Busby convened the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of New Zealand, which adopted the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand at Waitangi in 1835. While this Declaration was acknowledged by King William IV, it did not provide a permanent solution to the issue of governance. In 1839 Letters Patent were created purported to extend the jurisdiction of the colony of New South Wales to New Zealand, in effect to annexe "...any territory which is or may be acquired... within that group of Islands known as New Zealand". This strategem was adopted by the Colonial Office in order to allow time for Captain William Hobson to legally acquire sovereignty from the United Tribes of New Zealand by Treaty.

On 6 February 1840, the first copy of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed at Waitangi. Several subsequent copies were signed at various places around the North and South Islands. On 21 May Hobson issued proclamations of British Sovereignty over New Zealand. The basis of the proclamations was Hobson's discovery of 'treasonable' activities of the New Zealand Company settlements in Port Nicholson (Wellington and Britannia, later Petone) establishing their own 12-member governing council. Hobson sought to prevent the establishment of what he saw as a 'republic', that is, an independent state outside of his jurisdiction. Hobson was then declared Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand and divided the colony into two provinces (North Island—New Ulster, South Island—New Munster) after the Northern and Southern Irish provinces. In 1841, New Zealand was established as a colony in its own right.

The Imperial Parliament (Westminster) passed the first New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 empowering the government in New Zealand in 1846. The Act was to be fully implemented in 1848, but was never put in place because the Governor-in-Chief at the time, Sir George Grey, declined to apply it for a number of reasons. Instead, the Act was suspended for five years. Grey ruled with the powers of a dictator for the next five years; appointing Provincial councils at his pleasure.

Following the suspension of the 1846 Act, the Imperial Parliament moved again to grant New Zealand self-government with the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which repealed the earlier Constitution Act. This Act was based almost entirely on a draft by Sir George Grey, the main difference being the appointment of the Governor by the Secretary of the Colonies, and not by the (New Zealand) House of Representatives. The new Act did not take effect in New Zealand until 1853.

The Act provided:

That New Zealand be divided into six provinces. Each province had an elected Superintendent, and the power to pass sub-ordinate legislation (Ordinances). The Governor retained the right to veto legislation, and the Crown also had a right of disallowance within two years of the Acts passage;

The first enactment of the first Parliament of New Zealand elected under this Act was the English Laws Act of 1854, which affirmed the application of all English statutes in existence as at 14 January 1840 to New Zealand; specifically the Bill of Rights 1689, and Habeas Corpus. The powers of the New Zealand Parliament were clarified by the Colonial Laws Validity Act (Imperial) of 1865, which allowed a measured amount of legal independence. Under the Act, the New Zealand Parliament could pass laws inconsistent with British statutes or the common law, so long as Imperial statute was not specifically applicable to New Zealand. Where this occurred, the New Zealand statute would be void.

In 1857 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857, which allowed the New Zealand Parliament the ability to amend certain parts of the 1852 Act. This mainly related to proposals for new provinces in New Zealand. Several new provinces were then created by the New Zealand Parliament. The first major repeal of part of the Act came in 1876 with the Abolition of Provinces Act, which repealed section 2 of the Act and abolished the Provinces from 1 January 1877, thus centralising New Zealand’s government in its bicameral Parliament.

In 1891 the composition of Legislative Council was changed, Councillors were no longer appointed for life; instead for terms of 7 years with provision for reappointment.

The Imperial Conference of 1907 resolved to allow certain colonies to become independent states, termed 'Dominions'. Following the Conference, the House of Representatives passed a motion requesting that King Edward VII "take such steps as he may consider necessary; to change New Zealand's official name from 'The Colony of New Zealand' to 'The Dominion of New Zealand'. Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward prompted to move to "…raise up New Zealand" and assured that it would "have no other effect than that of doing the country good". On 9 September, a Royal Proclamation granting New Zealand Dominion status was issued by King Edward VII. The proclamation took effect on the 27 September. As a result, the Office of Governor became Governor-General under the Letters Patent 1917 to reflect New Zealand's status as a dominion more fully. The Letters Patent also removed a number of powers the Governor previously held while New Zealand was a colony.

In 1908, two enactments of constitutional importance were passed: the Judicature Act, which describes the Jurisdiction of the New Zealand Judiciary; and the Legislature Act, setting out the powers of Parliament. The latter is now largely repealed, with only certain provisions that codify aspects of parliamentary privilege remaining.

The Imperial Conference of 1926 affirmed the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which stated Britain's Dominions were "equal in status". In respect of the Governor-General, the Declaration stated that they held: "the same position in relation to the administration of public affairs in the Dominion" as was held by the monarch in the United Kingdom. The Governor-General was thus bound by the advice of their responsible ministers.

To give effect to the 1926 conference declarations, the Statute of Westminster 1931 was passed thus lifting the restrictions created by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865. The Statute applied to New Zealand but would have to be adopted by the New Zealand Parliament as its own law to have application in New Zealand.

After much debate, this occurred in 1947 with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. At the request of the New Zealand Parliament, Westminster passed the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947 to grant the New Zealand Parliament full sovereign powers to amend or repeal the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852. The Parliament of the United Kingdom could still pass laws at the request of the New Zealand Parliament, however. This residual power, which was used only for the 1947 Amendment Act, was abolished with the passing of the Constitution Act 1986, which repealed the 1852 Constitution Act.

As a result of these changes, New Zealand became a "Realm" legally independent of the United Kingdom, with a legally separate Crown. It was not until the 1983 Letters Patent, the first amendment of the Letters Patent since 1917, that New Zealand was correctly described as the Realm of New Zealand, which includes the self-governing territories of the Cook Islands and Niue.

On the election of a National Government promising to abolish the Legislative Council in 1950, the Council was stacked with the so-called "suicide squad" to allow the passage of the Legislative Council Abolition Act 1950 by the House of Representatives to abolish the Upper House. Despite proposals to re-establish an upper house, notably Jim Bolger's Senate proposal in 1990, New Zealand's Parliament remains unicameral.

In 1960 the Constitutional Society for Economic Freedom and Justice (CSEFJ) was formed to advocate a written constitution, restoration of the upper house of Parliament and a Bill of Rights. The society presented a petition to Parliament for a written constitution in 1961.

Following the election of the FourthLabour Government in 1984, a constitutional crisis arose. The incumbent Prime Minister Sir Rob Muldoon refused to implement the instructions of Prime Minister-elect David Lange to devalue the New Zealand dollar to head off a speculative run on the dollar. The crisis was resolved once Muldoon relented three days later, under pressure from his own Cabinet, which threatened to install Deputy Prime MinisterJim McLay in his place.

The new government formed an Officials Committee on Constitutional Reform to review the transfer of power following the constitutional crisis earlier in the year. As a result of the Committee, the Labour Government released the Bill of Rights White paper and also introduced the Constitution Act 1986, the first major review of the New Zealand Constitution Act for 134 years. Prior to this Act, only 12 of the 82 provisions of the 1852 Act remained in place. The Act consists of five main parts:

The Treaty of Waitangi has no inherent legal status, apart from its enormous moral and policy significance in New Zealand. The treaty gains legal significance from its treatment in various statutes. The Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 put the text of the Treaty of Waitangi in statute for the first time and created the quasi-judicial Waitangi Tribunal to address alleged breaches of the "principles" of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Act 1985 included the Māori text in statute for the first time. The English language and Māori language versions do not correspond exactly. The 1985 Act also empowered the Waitangi Tribunal to consider claims dating back to 1840.[7]

The fourth Labour government also began the process of electoral reform. It convened the Royal Commission on the Electoral System in 1986. The Commission suggested New Zealand change to the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system. Two referendums were held during the 1990s on the issue, with MMP being adopted in 1993 and implemented in 1996.

The last major constitutional reform of the fourth Labour Government was the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. This Act puts New Zealand’s commitment to the 1977 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into effect in New Zealand Law. However, the Act is neither entrenched nor supreme law (as was mooted in the White Paper of 1985) and can be repealed by a simple majority of Parliament.

Because it is not supreme law, the constitution is in theory comparatively easy to reform, requiring only a majority of Members of Parliament to amend it, as illustrated by the abolition of the Legislative Council in 1950.

Certain aspects of the constitution are entrenched, after a fashion. Section 268 of the Electoral Act declares that the law governing the maximum term of Parliament (itself part of the Constitution Act), along with certain provisions of the Electoral Act relating to the redistribution of electoral boundaries, the voting age, and the secret ballot, may only be altered either by three-quarters of the entire membership of the House of Representatives, or by a majority of valid votes in a popular referendum. Section 268 itself is not protected by this provision, so a government could legally repeal Section 268 and go on to alter the entrenched portions of law, both with a mere simple majority in Parliament. However, the entrenchment provision has enjoyed longstanding bipartisan support, and the electoral consequences of using a legal loophole to alter an entrenched provision would likely be severe.

Further, and even though not subject to legislative entrenchment, material change to other aspects of the constitution is unlikely to occur absent broad-based support, either through broad legislative agreement or by referendum.

A poll by TVNZ in 2004 found 82% of those surveyed thought New Zealand should have a "written constitution".[8]

The Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 allows for non-binding referendums on any issue should proponents submit a petition to Parliament signed by 10% of registered electors. In 1999 one such referendum was held, on the question of whether the number of Members of Parliament should be reduced from 120 to 99. Electors overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposal. However, there were no moves to amend the Electoral Act 1993 in line with this result until 2006 when a bill was introduced by New Zealand First MP Barbara Stewart to reduce the size of Parliament to 100. The bill passed its first reading by 61 votes to 60, but was voted down at its second reading after it was recommended by Select Committee that the bill be dropped.

The lack of implementation of referendums has led to calls for such referendums to be made binding on the government of the day, similar to the direct democracy seen in Switzerland. Both the New Zealand First Party and the Kiwi Party advocate binding referendums, along with the Better Democracy group.[needs update] However, neither are currently represented within the New Zealand Parliament, and former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key opposed binding referenda, as do many legal academics and members of New Zealand's LGBT communities.

Referendums on constitutional issues in New Zealand (outcome in bold):[10]

In November 2004, the Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the formation of a select committee of the House of Representatives to conduct an Inquiry into New Zealand's existing constitutional arrangements. Both the National Party and New Zealand First did not participate.[12] Beginning in 2005, the Constitutional Arrangements Committee's Inquiry was conducted under five terms of reference, identifying and describing:

a) New Zealand's constitutional development since 1840;

b) the key elements in New Zealand's constitutional structure, and the relationships between those elements;

c) the sources of New Zealand's constitution;

d) the process other countries have followed in undertaking a range of constitutional reforms; and

e) the processes which it would be appropriate for New Zealand to follow if significant constitutional reforms were considered in the future.

The Committee made three key recommendations to the Government:

1. That generic principles should underpin all discussions of constitutional change in the absence of any prescribed process,

2. That increased effort be made to improve civics and citizenship educations in schools, and

3. That the government consider whether an independent institute could foster better public understanding of, and informed debate on, New Zealand's constitutional arrangements.

On 2 February 2006, the Government responded to the report of the Committee. The Government responded favourably to the first and second recommendations, but did not support the third recommendation.[13]

In December 2010, a Constitutional Review was announced as part of the confidence and supply agreement between the National Party and the Māori Party, starting in 2011.[14]

An advisory panel which will support the ministers Bill English and Pita Sharples, who will make a final report to Cabinet by the end of 2013. The Government will respond within six months. The ministers' first report to Cabinet – agreed on the make-up of the advisory panel, a plan for public engagement and how the review will interact with other government projects with a constitutional dimension, such as the referendum on MMP.[14] On 4 August 2011 the make-up of the advisory committee was announced, with former Ngai Tahu leader Sir Tipene O'Regan and former law professor and law commissioner John Burrows as co-chairs.[15]

1.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu

2.
Monarchy of New Zealand
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The Crown is the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the New Zealand government, which is a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. Most of the powers are exercised by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them. The New Zealand monarchy has its roots in the British Crown, from which it has evolved to become a distinctly New Zealand institution, however, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. New Zealand shares the same monarch with the other 15 monarchies in the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, supports of the monarchy argue it costs New Zealand taxpayers only a small outlay for royal engagements and tours and the expenses of the governor-generals establishment. Monarchy New Zealand states his figure is one dollar per person per year. Thus, New Zealands line of succession remains identical to that of the United Kingdom, as such, the rules for succession are not fixed, but may be changed by a constitutional amendment. The Constitution Act 1986 specifies that should a regent be installed in the United Kingdom, upon a demise of the Crown, the late sovereigns heir immediately and automatically succeeds, without any need for confirmation or further ceremony—hence arises the phrase The King is dead. It is customary, though, for the accession of the new monarch to be proclaimed by the governor-general on behalf of the Executive Council of New Zealand. Following an appropriate period of mourning, the monarch is crowned in the United Kingdom in an ancient ritual. After an individual ascends the throne, he or she continues to reign until death. One of the first post-Second World War examples of New Zealands status as an independent monarchy was the alteration of the title by the Royal Titles Act 1953. This is one of the key differences from the Queens role in England and this is done in reciprocation to the sovereigns Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises to govern the Peoples of. According to their laws and customs. Though this power stems from the people, all New Zealanders live under the authority of the monarch, the government of New Zealand is defined by the constitution as the Queen acting on the advice of her Executive Council. In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, the advice tendered is typically binding, meaning the monarch reigns. The Royal Prerogative also extends to foreign affairs, the sovereign or the governor-general conducts treaties, alliances, the governor-general, on behalf of the Queen, also accredits New Zealand high commissioners and ambassadors, and receives similar diplomats from foreign states. In addition, the issuance of passports falls under the Royal Prerogative, the Crown is further responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the House of Representatives, after which the governor-general usually calls for a general election. The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all her subjects, however, she does not personally rule in judicial cases, instead the judicial functions of the Royal Prerogative are performed in trust and in the Queens name by Officers of Her Majestys Court

3.
Governor-General of New Zealand
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The Governor-General of New Zealand is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The office is mandated by letters patent and the officeholder is formally titled the Governor-General, when travelling abroad, the governor-general is seen as the representative of New Zealand, and of the Queen of New Zealand. For this reason, the governor-general is viewed by some as the de facto head of state, under the Niue Constitution Act, the governor-general also represents the monarch in Niue. The governor-general initially represented the British monarch and the government of the United Kingdom, therefore, many officeholders have been British statesmen. In 1972, Sir Denis Blundell became the first New Zealand resident to be appointed to the office, governors-general are not appointed for a specific term, but are generally expected to serve for five years. The current Governor-General is Dame Patsy Reddy, who has served since 28 September 2016, administrative support for the governor-general is provided by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Appointment to the Office is made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Prime Ministers advice has sometimes been the result of a decision by Cabinet, although there is no requirement for this. The appointment of Anand Satyanand met with the approval of every leader in the House of Representatives, by convention the Leader of the Opposition is also consulted on the appointment, however this too has not always been the case. This suggestion was in turn criticised by the Government, as Sir Edmund had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the Citizens for Rowling campaign, however, the right granted by the convention was not exercised directly by a New Zealand Prime Minister until 1967. Although non-partisan while in office, there have been a number of appointments of Governors-General to the office that have attracted considerable controversy, despite their political backgrounds, neither of these appointments could be said to have discharged their duties in a partisan way. There has often been speculation that a member of the Royal Family might take up the position, before the Governor-General enters office, his or her commission of appointment is publicly read in the presence of the Chief Justice of New Zealand and the members of the Executive Council. The Governor-General must take the Oath of Allegiance and the oath for the due execution of the office, from time to time, there have been proposals to elect the Governor-General. When first drafted by then Governor George Grey, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 contained provision for the Governor to be elected by New Zealands Parliament. This provision was removed from the enactment, probably because the Colonial Office wanted to keep a check on New Zealands colonial government. In 1887 Sir George Grey, by then also a former Premier, the Bill was narrowly defeated 46–48, being opposed by the government of Harry Atkinson. In 2006 political commentator Colin James suggested that the Governor-General could be elected by a 60% majority of votes cast in Parliament, James argued that the New Zealand public should be given the ability to choose the Queens representative, and that the current system is undemocratic and not transparent. National MP Nikki Kaye queried whether several one-member parties in parliament could veto the decision, the Republican Movement responded that the method would ensure appointments were made that most MPs and parties found acceptable. The Governor-General holds office at the pleasure of the Queen, under clause II of the Letters Patent

4.
Jacinda Ardern
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Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is a New Zealand politician and a member of the Labour Partys shadow cabinet. She was first elected to parliament as a list MP at the 2008 general election and she is currently the MP for Mt Albert, and the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Born in Hamilton, Ardern grew up in Morrinsville and Murupara and she attended the University of Waikato, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. She joined the Labour Party at an age, and became a senior figure in the Young Labour Party. After graduating from Waikato University, she spent time working in the offices of Phil Goff and she later spent time in London, working as a senior policy advisor. In early 2008 she won election as the President of the International Union of Socialist Youth, Ardern was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but left the church in 2005 because it conflicted with her political views. After a high placement on Labours party list for the 2008 election Ardern returned from London to campaign full-time and she also became the Partys candidate for the Waikato electorate. Ardern was unsuccessful in the vote, but was elected as a List MP. Upon election, she became the youngest sitting MP in Parliament, succeeding fellow Labour MP Darren Hughes, Labour Parliamentary leader Phil Goff appointed Ardern as Labours spokesperson for Youth Affairs and as associate spokesperson for Justice. Jacinda Ardern has featured as a panel guest on the TVNZ show Back Benches, the episodes panel comprised young members of various political parties. On 19 November 2008, shortly after the 2008 general election and she featured again on Wednesday 23 June 2010, shortly after the shadow cabinet reshuffle, in which Ardern had no portfolio change. She has also made appearances on TVNZs Breakfast programme as part of the Young Guns feature. Ardern contested the high-profile Auckland Central seat for Labour in the 2011 general election, standing against incumbent National MP Nikki Kaye for National, despite targeting Green voters to vote strategically for her, she did not succeed in her bid to unseat Kaye, losing by 717 votes. However, she returned to Parliament via the party list and she maintained an office within the electorate while a listed MP based in Auckland Central. After Goff resigned from the Party leadership following his defeat at the 2011 election and she was elevated to the fourth-ranking position in the Shadow Cabinet on 19 December 2011, becoming Spokesperson for Social Development under new leader David Shearer. Ardern announced that she intended to put forward her name for the Labour nomination for the Mount Albert by-election, when nominations for the Labour Party closed on 12 January 2017, Ardern was the only nominee and selected unopposed. She was confirmed as Labours candidate at a meeting on 22 January, Ardern won a landslide victory, gaining 77 percent of votes cast in the preliminary results. On 7 March 2017 she was elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party

5.
New Zealand Parliament
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The New Zealand Parliament is the legislative branch of New Zealand, consisting of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives. Before 1951, there was a chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world, the House of Representatives is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. It usually consists of 120 MPs, though sometimes due to overhang seats. 70 MPs are elected directly in electorate seats and the remainder are filled by list MPs based on each partys share of the party vote, Māori were represented in Parliament from 1867, and in 1893 women gained the vote. New Zealand does not allow sentenced prisoners to vote, the Parliament is closely linked to the executive branch. The House of Representatives has met in the Parliament Buildings located in Wellington, Parliament funds the broadcast of its proceedings through Parliament TV, AM Network and Parliament Today. It was based on the Westminster model and had a house, called the House of Representatives. The members of the House of Representatives were elected under the first-past-the-post voting system, originally Councillors were appointed for life, but later their terms were fixed at seven years. In 1951, the Council was abolished altogether, making the New Zealand legislature unicameral, under the Constitution Act, legislative power was also conferred on New Zealands provinces, each of which had its own elected Legislative Council. These provincial legislatures were able to legislate for their provinces on most subjects, over a twenty-year period, political power was progressively centralised, and the provinces were abolished altogether in 1876. Four Māori electorates were created in 1867 during the term of the 4th Parliament, originally the New Zealand Parliament remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. One historical speciality of the New Zealand Parliament was the country quota, from 1889 on, districts were weighted according to their urban/rural split. The country quota was in effect until it was abolished in 1945 by a mostly urban-elected Labour government, the New Zealand Parliament is sovereign with no institution able to over-ride its decisions. The ability of Parliament to act is, legally, unimpeded, for example, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is a normal piece of legislation, it is not superior law as codified constitutions are in some other countries. The only thing Parliament is limited in its power are on some entrenched issues relating to elections and these issues require either 75% of all MPs to support the bill or a referendum on the issue. The Queen of New Zealand is one of the components of Parliament—formally called the Queen-in-Parliament and this results from the role of the monarch to sign into law the bills that have been passed by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives was established as a house and has been the Parliaments sole chamber since 1951

6.
New Zealand House of Representatives
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The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand together constitute the New Zealand Parliament, the House of Representatives passes all laws, provides ministers to form a cabinet, and supervises the work of the Government. It is also responsible for adopting the states budgets and approving the states accounts, the House of Representatives is a wholly democratically elected body, usually consisting of 120 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected for limited terms, holding office until Parliament is dissolved, a government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of MPs. If no majority is then a minority government can be formed with a confidence. The chamber was created by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which established a legislature, however the upper chamber. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, the seat of the House of Representatives is Parliament House in Wellington, the capital city. The House of Representatives takes the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as its model, the New Zealand Parliament is based on the Westminster system. As a democratic institution, the role of the House of Representatives is to provide representation for the people. The executive branch of the New Zealand government draws its membership exclusively from the House of Representatives, although it does not elect the Prime Minister, the position of the parties in the House of Representatives is of overriding importance. By convention, a minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the governor-general appoints the person most likely to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party and this support is immediately tested through a motion of confidence. The House of Representatives normally consists of 120 members, known as Members of Parliament, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives has overall charge of the administration of the House, and presides over sittings. Seating in the chamber is arranged in a horseshoe pattern. The Speaker of the House sits in a chair at the open end of the horseshoe. Following the example of the British House of Commons, members of Government are seated on the hand of the Speaker. MPs are assigned seating on the basis of the seniority in a party caucus, for example, the prime minister sits on the front row, in the fourth seat along from the Speaker. The 51st New Zealand Parliament is the current sitting of the House and its membership was elected at the 2014 general election and, so far, one subsequent by-election

7.
New Zealand general election, 2011
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The 2011 New Zealand general election on Saturday 26 November 2011 determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament. One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives,70 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 50 from party lists. New Zealand since 1996 has used the Mixed Member Proportional voting system, a referendum on the voting system was held at the same time as the election, with voters voting by majority to keep the MMP system. A total of 3,070,847 people were registered to vote in the election, with over 2.2 million votes cast and a turnout of 74. 21% – the lowest turnout since 1887. The incumbent National Party, led by John Key, gained the plurality with 47. 3% of the party vote and 59 seats, two seats short of holding a majority. New Zealand First, having won no seats in 2008 due to its failure to reach the 5% threshold or win an electorate. Nationals confidence and supply partners in the 49th Parliament meanwhile suffered losses, ACT New Zealand won less than a third of the party vote it received in 2008, reducing from five seats to one. The Māori Party was reduced from five seats to three, as the party split between the Māori Party and former Māori Party MP Hone Harawiras Mana Party. United Future lost party votes, but retained their one seat in Parliament, the election date was set as Saturday 26 November 2011, as predicted by the media. Breaking with tradition, Prime Minister John Key announced the date in February. Traditionally, the date is a closely guarded secret, announced as late as possible. The date follows the tradition of holding the election on the last Saturday of November unless the schedule is interrupted by a snap election or to circumvent holding a by-election. The Governor General must issue writs for an election seven days of the expiration or dissolution of Parliament. The writs for the general election were returnable on 27 November 2008. As a result, the 49th Parliament would have expired, if not dissolved earlier, as that day was a Sunday, the last available working day was 25 November 2011. Consequently, the last day for issuance of writs of election was 2 December 2011, except in some circumstances, the writs must be returned within 50 days of their issuance with the last possible working day being 20 January 2012. Because polling day must be a Saturday, the last possible polling date for the election was 7 January 2012, the Christmas/New Year holiday period made the last realistic date for the election Saturday 10 December 2011. The Rugby World Cup 2011 was hosted by New Zealand between 9 September and 23 October 2011, and ruled out all the election dates in this period

8.
Chatham Islands
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The Chatham Islands form an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 650 kilometres east of mainland New Zealand. It consists of ten islands within a 40-kilometre radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island. The archipelago is called Rēkohu in the indigenous Moriori language, Moriori are the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands, and members of the Māori Ngāti Mutunga tribe have also settled on the island. It has officially been part of New Zealand since 1842 and includes the countrys easternmost point, the islands are at about 43°53′S 176°31′W, roughly 840 kilometres east of Christchurch, New Zealand. The nearest mainland New Zealand point to the Chatham Islands is Cape Turnagain, in the North Island at a distance of 650 kilometres, the nearest mainland city to the islands is Hastings, New Zealand, located 697 kilometres to the North-West. The two largest islands, Chatham Island and Pitt Island, constitute most of the area of 966 square kilometres. The islands sit on the Chatham Rise, a large, relatively shallowly submerged part of the Zealandia continent that stretches east from near the South Island. The Chatham Islands, which emerged only within the last four years, are the only part of the Chatham Rise showing above sea level. The islands are hilly with coasts being a mixture including cliffs and dunes, beaches. Chatham has a number of streams, including Te Awainanga and Tuku, Chatham and Pitt are the only inhabited islands, with the remaining smaller islands being conservation reserves with restricted or prohibited access. The livelihoods of the inhabitants depend on agriculture, with the island being an exporter of coldwater crayfish, the names of the main islands, in the order of occupation are, Chatham Islands have a maritime climate characterised by a narrow temperature range and relatively frequent rainfall. Its isolated position far from any sizeable landmass renders the record temperature for main settlement Waitangi to be just 23.8 °C. The climate is cool, wet and windy, with high temperatures between 15 and 20 °C in summer, and between 5 and 10 °C in July, the Southern Hemisphere winter. Snow is extremely rare, having being recorded near sea level in July 2015 after several decades, the International Date Line lies to the east of the Chathams, even though the islands lie east of 180° longitude. Of interest are the trees, with branches trailing almost horizontally in the lee of the wind. The ferns in the forest understory include Blechnum discolor, the islands are a breeding ground for huge flocks of seabirds and are home to a number of endemic birds, some of which are seabirds and others which live on the islands. The best known species are the magenta petrel and the black robin, Other endemic species are the Chatham oystercatcher, the Chatham gerygone, Chatham pigeon, Forbes parakeet, the Chatham snipe and the shore plover. The endemic Chatham shag, Pitt shag and the Chatham albatross are at risk of capture by a variety of fishing gear, including fishing lines, trawls, gillnets, for accounts and notes on seabird species seen in the Chathams between 1960 and 1993 online

9.
New Zealand nuclear-free zone
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In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, land and this has since remained a part of New Zealands foreign policy. The nuclear-free zone Act does not prohibit nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities, after the Disarmament and Arms Control Act was passed by the Lange Labour government, the United States government suspended its ANZUS obligations to New Zealand. The legislation was a milestone in New Zealands development as a nation and seen as an important act of sovereignty, self-determination and cultural identity. New Zealands three decade anti-nuclear campaign is the successful movement of its type in the world which resulted in the nations nuclear-weapon-free zone status being enshrined in legislation. Initial seeds were sown for New Zealands 1987 nuclear free zone legislation in the late 1950s with the formation of the local Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organisation between 1957 and 1959. In 1961, CND urged the New Zealand government to declare that it would not acquire or use nuclear weapons and it was the biggest petition in the nation since the one in 1893 which demanded that women must have the right to vote. The first nuclear test, codenamed Aldebaran, was conducted on 2 July 1966, in March 1976 over 20 anti nuclear and environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, met in Wellington and formed a loose coalition called the Campaign for Non-Nuclear Futures. The coalitions mandate was to oppose the introduction of power and to promote renewable energy alternatives such as wind, wave, solar. CNNF embarked on a national education exercise producing the largest petition against nuclear power in New Zealands history with 333,087 signatures by October 1976 and this represented over 10% of the countrys total population of 3 million. At this time, New Zealands only nuclear reactor was a small sub-critical reactor that had installed at the School of Engineering of the University of Canterbury in 1962. It had been given by the United States Atoms for Peace programme and was used for training engineers in nuclear techniques. Regional anti-nuclear sentiment was consolidated in 1985 when eight of the thirteen South Pacific Forum nations signed the South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty or Treaty of Rarotonga, community inspired anti-nuclear sentiments largely contributed to the New Zealand Labour Party election victory under Norman Kirk in 1972. In June 1973, the International Court of Justice ordered that the French cease atmospheric nuclear testing at Mururoa atoll while the case was being heard by the Court, however, the French ignored this ruling. Mururoa was the site of protests by various vessels, including the Rainbow Warrior. In a symbolic act of protest the Kirk government sent two of its navy frigates, HMNZS Canterbury and Otago, into the test zone area in 1973, a Cabinet Minister was randomly selected to accompany this official New Zealand Government protest fleet. This voyage included a number of local kiwi peace organisations who had organised an international flotilla of protest yachts that accompanied the frigates into the Mururoa zone, Peace yachts attempting to disrupt the French tests sailed in coordinated protests through the Mururoa exclusion zones between 1972-1991. These included the voyage of the first joint Greenpeace-CND campaign in 1972 with David McTaggart and this was followed in 1973 by a flotilla of yachts organised by the Peace Media with protest yachts Fri, Spirit of Peace, the Boy Roel, Magic Isle and the Tanmure